CHERRIES had to be “very sharp” inside their own box to claim three points at Old Trafford, according to boss Andoni Iraola.

The Basque head coach masterminded one of the most famous victories in Cherries history on Saturday, goals from Dominic Solanke, Philip Billing, and Marcos Senesi stunning Manchester United 3-0.

But despite their clinical nature on the counter, Cherries had to fend off numerous attacks from the hosts.

The Red Devils had 20 attempts throughout the game, with goalkeeper Neto making three stops.

Iraola told the Daily Echo: “When you come to a stadium like this, against this kind of opposition, you know that they are very strong, especially in the wide areas, full-backs overlapping, underlapping.

“Wingers, very dangerous in one against one situations.

“You know that you have to be very sharp in your own box.

“The clearances, the blocks, the defensive work has to be good because they send a lot of players forward, so they will give you spaces after.

As part of their defensive display, Cherries managed to block 12 of Man United’s 20 shots on goal.

Asked how important Cherries’ desire to protect their goal was, Iraola replied: “I think it's key.

“It's tricky for us because we were lacking a little bit of this toughness at the back.

“And you know this with the second ball, the rebounds inside our box, the blocks, even to stop the crosses, make them shoot a little bit further.

“This is more things that individual details defensively that are giving us now, the other day (against Palace), (against Manchester United) a clean sheet.

“The clean sheet at the end is points that we are winning, that probably at the beginning of the season we weren't.”

After defeating Crystal Palace 2-0 in midweek, Cherries have recorded back-to-back Premier League clean sheets for the first time under Iraola.

They last achieved that feat in the 2019-20 season, when they achieved three clean sheets in a row under Eddie Howe.